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I'm forwarding this from the SacMovie News list in case there's anybody here looking for a nice camera. (Mods: If "for sale" threads are not allowed, go ahead and pull this. I just thought this was too cool.) If I had the dough right now I'd be emailing this guy for sure:

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I'll add: I know the guy selling this and can give you a little backstory:

He's an experienced filmmaker and a die-hard 'film' fanatic, so the prospect of ever shooting DV was taboo until he saw footage from the piece we shot in Africa. He then grilled me about my camera (the same as the camera available above) and bought one from an independent party whose criteria is also listed in the above clipping. He likes the camera, but he thought he could achieve a 'film conversion in camera' by dropping the framerate to 12fps; with 24p, however, it only goes to 10x (shooting 30 fps) and then 'drops' the extra six frames in the 2:3:3:2 pulldown capture. So Bryan decided to re-sell it.

(I talk to this guy every week at the Capitol Film Arts Alliance meetings)

Thereyago! It really is a decent deal because of the pelican case and the fact it has just been factory serviced, so everything should be running crystal clear and smooth. I love the camera--examples of the work it does are on my website (and here.)

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Interesting, thanks for the info! I'd pick the thing up too, if I had the dough.

Reminds me of a story told me by a friend a few years ago. He's a gunsmith and makes gorgeous 18th century stuff (he made Mel Gibson's flintlock for "The Patriot"). Some black powder guy ordered a very expensive custom long rifle from him, because by golly he wanted the best. Frank delivered it. The guy took it out shooting but wasn't hitting everything he aimed at. Frank tried to tell him that every gun is different and you have to tweak it a bit until it's "sweet", then practice practice practice. Oh no..."Make me another one". Fine, money is money. Well, he made a string of guns for this guy, who kept hoping for the magic "ray gun" that would make him an instant dead-eye. He never figured it out, and Frank finallly told him to pound sand.

(On the other hand, Mel G LOVES the nice gun Frank made for him after Patriot wrapped.)

Neb

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Update: I have never heard back from the above mentioned guy, so I'll assume he sold the camera elsewhere. It's probably just as well for me, because I talked to somebody the other day at a DVX100 class who told me that I could pick up a NEW one for that price these days.

The class, BTW, was really cool. That camera blows me away (I'm easily impressed, but still...). I think I may save my pennies for the DVX100-A, though, because unless a 100 runs in front of me with a super cheap price tag on it I think I'll be happier in the long run with the improvements on the newer model.

I never thought video could look so clean and painterly...almost as nice as film.

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Well, we're a few years down the road and I'm looking at cameras again. The price on a new DVX100a has dropped considerably, so what's a good price on a used one? I just got my ProVidFilm e-newsletter and all of the ads for the DVX say "make offer". Any of you guys have thought on what a good offer would be?

Thanks so much,

Neb

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Forget the DVX. Spend a little more cash and get the Canon XH A1. You can get the 24p frame look with their 24f feature and you get a larger frame size with HDV. There are things that still make the DVX such a great shooting camera (like the audio controls) but for the money I don't think there is a better cam than the A1.

As a side note - if you do buy it, you will want to make some picture adjustments to it to get the color a little more vibrant.

The other great thing about the Canon is that the CCD chipset is the exact same set as in the XL H1 which means renting an XL and intercutting it with the A1 is rather easy and doesn't tax your post process.